Do you have a favorite "forgotten prototype"? Share this post with a friend who loves weird old cars.
Yes, the most successful supermini in French history owes its existence to the DF104. When you sit in an original R5, you are sitting in the ghost of a car too strange for its own time. One surviving DF104 prototype resides in the Renault Conservatoire in Flins, France. It is rarely shown to the public. When it does appear, collectors weep. It is the "missing link" between the post-war 4CV and the hot-hatch revolution. renault df104
We eventually got the Smart Fortwo (two seats), the McLaren F1 (center drive), and the BMW i3 (city-focused). But none of them have the raw, eccentric charm of the DF104. Do you have a favorite "forgotten prototype"
It is the French automotive equivalent of a lost Beatles tape: imperfect, unfinished, but utterly brilliant. When you sit in an original R5, you
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Renault called it the "Moteur Billancourt soufflé" —a nod to the legendary 4CV engine, but turned sideways and blown cool by air rather than water. Here is why the DF104 never saw production: The seating.
Renault’s marketing department had a meltdown when they saw the layout. The driver sat in the center. Two passengers sat slightly behind and to the sides, like an arrowhead.